As usual, I went early to Stade Roland Garros, arriving there at around 9 AM and was amongst the first ten spectators at the gate today, haha. Though, as usual as well, the gate was only opened at 10 AM. Just like last year, btw, there were three security checks prior to entering the site 😛 . Anyway, I had toast sandwich for breakfast, which was okay. I loved the cappuccino, btw, mostly because it looked like this, haha:

Cappuccino

The first matches today would start at 11 AM. I was torn between watching my “usual” women’s legends final at Suzanne Lenglen or the boys (junior) singles final at Court No. 1. In the end, I chose the women’s legends final as I was already quite close to the court anyway, haha.

The final was between the defending champion, Lindsay Davenport/Martina Navratilova, and Tracy Austin-Holt/Kim Clijsters. Overall, the match was okay though it was clear Kim Clijsters was the best player on court; and there were too many errors from Navratilova and Davenport. Btw, it was nice to get a glimpse of Big Babe Tennis (a term describing women’s tennis being dominated by strong, tall players who play with a lot of power (in the early 2000s)), when Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters were exchanging big cross-court shots in some of the points. Even though Navratilova and Davenport fought, in the end, Austin-Holt/Clijsters won the match 6–3, 3–6, [10–5].

After the match, I left Court Suzanne Lenglen and decided to have lunch at the restaurant, planning to have my usual steak with some ratatouille, a dish they always had every year since I first visited Roland Garros in 2012. But it turned out they (finally) changed their menu this year, haha. Instead of a steak, they had grilled aloyau beef presented in sticks, haha. So I had this one (though, arguably, this was still similar-ish to steak anyway 😛 ).

Grilled aloyau beef

After lunch, I went around the venue a little bit to stretch my legs before, at around 2:30 PM, going to my seat at Court Philippe Chatrier. Btw, at first I wasn’t sure with my seat as it was in one of the top rows in the stand (so it was quite some “distance” from the court), but this turned out to be good because the whole time, the seat was covered by the shade of the press boxes! Haha 😆 . You know, it was a really hot and sunny day today so it was nice to sit under some shade, really 😀 .

Back at Court Philippe Chatrier this year

The women’s singles match started at 3 PM. I just realized this year that the trophy (Coupe Suzanne Lenglen) was brought into the stadium in a Louis Vuitton box, though, haha. This was prior to the finalists entering the court. Anyway, not long after, Jelena Ostapenko and Simona Halep were welcomed in the court and took their seats. Ostapenko won the coin toss and chose to receive.

The coin toss

Then, the match started.

I won’t go to too much tennis details here, but Ostapenko started really well. As a young player in her first grandslam final, she was fierce! I like this attitude from a tennis player. The first set went pretty much neck to neck, until Halep broke Ostapenko’s serve in the tenth game and took the first set 6–4.

Simona Halep took the first set 6–4

Halep took the first three games of the second set, though those were three close games. At this point, Ostapenko was down 4–6, 0–3. I was hoping Ostapenko would not give up at this point and kept on fighting, so that the final would last a little bit longer so my ticket worthed more, lol 😛 . And, gladly, she was not!! She believed on herself, sticked to her own game, which was to be hyper aggressive, and eventually turned the fortune around. She won six of the next seven games and won the set 6–4!

Jelena Ostapenko took the second set 6–4.

The third set started out similarly, where Ostapenko was immediately down 1–3. Again, at this point she did not give up and kept pressuring Halep with all those aggressive shots. From 1–3 down, she won five straight games and, thus, winning the match 4–6, 6–4, 6–3!! WOW!!

Jelena Ostapenko’s winning moment after hitting a backhand down the line return winner.

Understandably, Halep was upset but she was, as always, gracious in defeat (IMO, Simona Halep is one of those players with great sportsmanship). The trophy ceremony followed afterwards, where Ostapenko was handed her first ever singles trophy, and it happened to be the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, a grandslam trophy!!

Jelena Ostapenko won her first singles title ever, and it was Roland Garros

It will be interesting to see how Jelena Ostapenko goes from hereon forward. I hope she can keep on this level of play and, especially, her fight to prove that this victory is not just a one time wonder thing. We will see…

Anyway, the men’s doubles match followed afterwards. Btw, the draw of this event also fell apart in this tournament, where two unseeded teams made the final: Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus and Santiago Gonzaels/Donald Young. For whatever reason, I felt really tired already and so I decided to skip this final and went back to my hotel. Well, but only after dinner at the restaurant I always visited every year nearby the venue, of course (read Part III ) 😛 .

Back at Stade Roland Garros!

Suzanne Lenglen

Charging point

Court Suzanne Lenglen

Kim Clijsters/Tracy Austin-Holt

Lindsay Davenport/Martina Navratilova

Lindsay Davenport hitting a forehand

Kim Clijsters hitting a forehand

Kim Clijsters/Tracy Austin-Holt won the women’s legends event in 2017

The 1989’s men singles’ champion, Michael Chang, playing tennis with his (?) kid